xXx (2002)

An extreme sports athlete, Xander Cage, is recruited by the government on a special mission.

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer:

Rich Wilkes

Stars:

Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas

4 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vin Diesel	...	Xander Cage
Asia Argento	...	Yelena
Marton Csokas	...	Yorgi
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Agent Augustus Gibbons
Michael Roof	...	Toby Lee Shavers
Richy Müller	...	Milan Sova
Werner Daehn	...	Kirill
Petr Jákl	...	Kolya (as Petr Jakl)
Jan Filipenský	...	Viktor (as Jan Filipensky)
Tom Everett	...	Senator Dick Hotchkiss
Danny Trejo	...	El Jefe
Thomas Ian Griffith	...	Agent Jim McGrath
Eve	...	J.J.
Leila Arcieri	...	Jordan King
William Hope	...	Agent Roger Donnan

Storyline

Xander "XXX" Cage is a thrill seeker who until now has been deemed untouchable by the law. NSA Agent Gibbons forces XXX to cooperate with the government to infiltrate an underground Russian crime ring, and avoid going to prison. Gibbons sends XXX to enter this world of crime undetected where others have failed, using his natural athletic prowess and a whole lot of attitude. Xander must combat an organization led by a clever, ruthless and nihilistic Yorgi whose first target is the city of Prague.

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Plot Keywords:

thug life | premarital sex | tattooed trash | big boned woman | time bomb | 

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Taglines:

If you want someone to save the world, make sure it's someone who likes the world as it is.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, non-stop action sequences, sensuality, drug content and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the DVD extras, Vin Diesel comments that before his three month preparation for this movie, he'd never ridden a motocross bike. He was trained by the world's top motocross bikers.

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Goofs

The Russian engineers actually speak Russian with a Czech accent and later when the rocket is about to explode you can hear them panicking in Czech.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Henchman: [in Czech] He stole the chip, he's inside.
Yorgi: I see him.
Yorgi: Kirill! Time to work.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits except for the title.

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Alternate Versions

Up until 2017, all UK versions of the film were cut by one second to remove a head-butt to secure a 12A/12 rating. The BBFC waived the cut to the theatrical version on January 5th 2017 for its 15th anniversary Blu-ray release. The director's cut had the cut waived when submitted in 2005, but the release itself is still (pointlessly) censored, even throughout Europe as the same master was used. Although it carries an overall 15 rating, this is only due to bonus features - the film itself is a 12 as per the theatrical version.

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Connections

Featured in Designing the World of 'xXx' (2002)

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Soundtracks

Millionaire
Written by Josh Homme (as Josh Homme) and Mario Lalli
Performed by Queens of the Stone Age
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Diesel Is Decent As Latest Macho-Hero

Vin Diesel is a pretty good guy to play these new action-heroes. Like "The Rock," he's a big, muscular macho guy who men can look upon with some respect and the ladies can fall for. Unfortunately, a number of these testosterone-filled action films, including this one, are somewhat moronic in nature. However, they are undeniably entertaining.

You can always depend on one thing in these type of movies, from the "biker movies" of the '50s to today's films: the hero will always be a rebel against authority and any laws of the land. Also, an even more-recent theme is to have the government actually employ the rebel to get the job done because their men are unable to accomplish what this ultra-tattooed macho man can do! It's so much garbage, but it has its moments and Diesel still is a likable hero of sorts. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, and Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris and then "The Rock," these kind of muscle-men have fairly clean mouths and at least some ideals.

For pure action, the movie succeeds because, in the end, it does entertain which is the name of the game.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Spanish Russian Czech

Release Date:

9 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Triple X

Filming Locations:

Charles Bridge, Old Town, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$44,506,103, 11 August 2002

Gross USA:

$142,109,382

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$277,448,382

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min 132 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1